Vanderbilt » Connecticuthttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt
The TennesseanThu, 13 Mar 2014 22:16:58 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Vanderbilt players offer pre-game thoughts on UConnhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2011/09/10/vanderbilt-players-offer-pre-game-thoughts-on-uconn/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2011/09/10/vanderbilt-players-offer-pre-game-thoughts-on-uconn/#commentsSat, 10 Sep 2011 21:26:27 +0000Jeff Lockridgehttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/?p=1789The Commodores (1-0) take on Connecticut (1-0) in the second game of the season for both teams at 6:35 p.m. Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium.

For Vanderbilt and Coach James Franklin, this is one of those toss-up battles that they need to win if that end-of-the-year victory count is to measure up to bowl standards.

Here are thoughts from Franklin and the Commodores on their next opponent – the Huskies:

James Franklin

On UConn’s three quarterbacks …

“For us, it’s not really as whole lot different than preparing for one. We watched the film and we see how they’re using all three of those quarterbacks. We understand the reason they’re doing it is because they feel like all three bring something to the table. So it kind of gives us an idea of what to defend when each quarterback is in, in my opinion.”

On building momentum early in the season …

“I don’t know. What happened last week is over. Our entire focus is on UConn. We’re looking at this as 12 one-game seasons.”

On the offense practicing at a fast pace this week …

“More than anything it’s just tempo. Whether we’re going huddle or no-huddle, we want to play fast. Whether we’re huddlign up and running to the line of scrimmage or whether we’re not huddling at all, we want to play with a tempo. That’s really all we’re trying to do.”

On Warren Norman’s readiness after sitting out last week …

“The thing about him is he’s so mature, so even the times in camp when he didn’t get as many reps as I would have liked, he handles it the right way. He stands back there, he’s taking mental notes, he’s going through his footwork, he’s talking about his assignments. He just handles it the right way.”

On having men’s basketball Coach Kevin Stallings speak to his team after practice this week …

“He’s been great. I’ve developed a really good relationship with Coach Corbin and Coach Stallings. Like we talked about tonight, we have groups that are very, very similar. We’re going to support one another. We can’t wait for basketball season to get started, and we’re going to go support those guys. And they’ve been great about supporting us.”

On quarterback Larry Smith’s health …

“He’s full go.”

QB Larry Smith

On UConn’s defense and how it differs from last season …

“They do a lot better job disguising their coverages and give different looks than they did last year. We have to be on our P’s and Q’s and stay on top of those things.”

DE Johnell Thomas

On UConn’s offensive line …

“They are a pretty solid offensive line. But to be honest, we as a defense are more focused on what we do. If we can control the things we can control and execute the way we’re coached, what they really do shouldn’t be a factor.

“Our defensive line, we can probably do a better job at making less mental error sand being more aggressive up front.”

LB Chris Marve

General thoughts on UConn …

“They’re still pretty big, physical, a run-first team. They have a new coordinator and coaching staff, but they’re similar to last year.”

On having 12 tackles last week …

“I feel like I can get more tackles than that. I only played three quarters. But one of the big things in the linebacker room coming from Coach (Brent) Pry and Coach (Bob) Shoop) is production. When you’re supposed to make plays, you make them. And then you try to go the extra mile and makes plays you’re not supposed to. That’s what I try to do every time.”

On how fellow starting LBs Tristan Strong and Chase Garnham did in week one …

“Those guys played really great. Those guys have been really impressive all offseason. They showcased their talents last weekend, and this coming weekend I expect them to do bigger things.”

On the prospect of being 2-0 …

“Having back-to-back wins would be great. But Elon is in the past and we’re 0-0 right now. If we can end this weekend 1-0, then we can talk about other things after that. But right now we’re focused on UConn and having momentum after beating them.”

OT Ryan Seymour

On last season’s loss to UConn serving as motivation …

“Absolutely. That was a tough loss for us last year. Obviously, we’re 1-0 and we want to continue our winning streak. But definitely emotions are coming into this from last year. This is going to be our redemption.”

On the pace the offense practiced with this week …

“We’re trying to get the defense to not substitute, so we’re trying to go fast and keep the defense on their toes. If we break the huddle fast and get on the ball fast, it’s going to limit the defense and give us a chance to move the ball.”

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2011/09/10/vanderbilt-players-offer-pre-game-thoughts-on-uconn/feed/1Running backs for Vanderbilt, UConn poised to return on Saturdayhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2011/09/08/running-backs-for-vanderbilt-uconn-poised-to-return-on-saturday/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2011/09/08/running-backs-for-vanderbilt-uconn-poised-to-return-on-saturday/#commentsThu, 08 Sep 2011 21:02:12 +0000Jeff Lockridgehttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/?p=1787Neither the Vanderbilt Commodores nor the Connecticut Huskies had their projected top tailbacks in the lineup last week.

Fortunately, neither team really needed them against inferior FCS opponents.

But when Vandy hosts UConn at 6:35 p.m. Saturday in a rematch of a 40-21 Huskies’ win last year, look for both Warren Norman and D.J. Shoemate to be back on the football field.

Shoemate was “very close to 100 percent” on Thursday, Coach Paul Pasqualoni told the Hartford Courant. The Huskies’ projected starter and 2010 Southern Cal transfer did not play last week in a 35-3 win over Fordham due to an ankle injury.

Redshirt freshman Lyle McCombs stepped in and ran for 141 yards and four touchdowns to pace UConn in Shoemate’s absence.

“A player here, in our system, does not lose his position because of an injury,” Pasqualoni said. “So when that player is 100 percent healthy, he comes back, he goes back to where he was when he got hurt and then we go from there with it.”

Norman, the Commodores’ leading rusher the last two seasons, has been practicing this week and said he is ready to play on Saturday. Those sentiments were echoed by Coach James Franklin.

Norman, whose sore knee limited his activity during camp, sat out of the Elon game to gain an extra week of rest.

“I think it helped,” Norman said. “Regardless, I felt like I could have been out there and been just as good last week as this coming Saturday. But I’m not concerned with it. It’s all good.

“I knew beforehand, (Franklin) told me he was going to try to hold me out. I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by that. But anytime you’re sitting out and you’re a competitor, you always want to be out there and it’s going to be a little disappointing. But I think I handled it pretty well and I’m ready to go this week.”

Without Norman, Vanderbilt totaled 132 rushing yards – but just 55 of those came from running backs. Look for Norman to be wearing a knee brace for added support, although he said that call would be up to the coaches and trainers.

In case you were wondering, Norman got only six carries for 27 yards and Shoemate did not have a rush attempt despite playing when these teams met on Oct. 2, 2010 in East Hartford. Jordan Todman was the star tailback that day, running for 190 yards on 37 carries.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2011/09/08/running-backs-for-vanderbilt-uconn-poised-to-return-on-saturday/feed/0Post-game comments from 40-21 loss at UConnhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2010/10/03/post-game-comments-from-40-21-loss-at-uconn/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2010/10/03/post-game-comments-from-40-21-loss-at-uconn/#commentsSun, 03 Oct 2010 06:05:10 +0000Jeff Lockridgehttp://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/?p=1075EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – When the thrill and splendor of Vanderbilt’s 21-0 offensive flurry over a four-minute span of the second quarter wore off, the Commodores were left with a disappointing second-half effort and a 40-21 loss to Connecticut on Saturday.

Hopes of a three-game win streak with Eastern Michigan on deck were quickly laid to rest, and the ceiling for Vandy’s win total this season has been lowered a bit with a pair of non-conference losses on its 1-3 record.

One of the more interesting (and disturbing) post-game quotes came from Vanderbilt wide receiver Udom Umoh, who suggested his team “gave up a little” in the second half.

“That team out there, they’re a good team,” Umoh said of UConn. “And it’s kind of even (talent-wise). But we definitely should have won.

“All that said, we need to learn to keep the intensity through both halves and learn to finish the football game. It’s not all decided on one play. We need to keep playing and playing harder. It looked like maybe at times we gave up a little. We need to keep playing hard throughout.”

Here are some of the additional remarks from Coach Robbie Caldwell and Vanderbilt players from Rentschler Field:

Robbie Caldwell

On recovering from Jonathan Krause’s fumble on the game’s first offensive play that led to a UConn touchdown …

“We’ve been through that a lot. I thought they handled it well. We got down 14-0 before we scored and came back. Tied it 21-21 there at halftime, so we’re in great shape. We talked about it as a team. It’s 0-0. Here we go. We’re starting from here. And obviously they outscored us (19-0).”

On Krause’s 44-yard TD run on a reverse in the second quarter …

“He responded back after fumbling that ball at the beginning. It really upped his confidence a little bit. We saw it was there. We were just waiting for the right time to use it. We thought once we crossed the 50 we might be able to score with it, and we did.”

On UConn’s success throwing over the defense for two TDs in the back of the end zone …

“Play-action pass. We were in back-bracket coverage on (the first TD pass just before halftime) and the free safety should have been sitting all over it. They ran the ball so well that the play-action pass has got you so conscious of the run, it’s very easy to get you to bite on something like that. And that’s exactly what we did. Great game plan for them.”

On Eric Samuels’ penalty for roughing the kicker that led to a UConn field goal …

“Eric came scot-free. We thought he would. But he didn’t take the angle he was taught to take and ran into the kicker. That’s all you can say about that. It was a turning point. It’s a gamble you take. We could have sat there and played conservatively and probably kept the score looking a little more respectable, but we’re going to try to win the game.”

On Larry Smith running the ball more with success …

“It’s just what we do. We knew it would be there. But they did a good job adjusting to that and took that away (as the game went on). They were going to make sure we ran the ball up the middle and not outside on the edges. They did a good job forcing us inside.”

Running back Warren Norman

On running off 21 consecutive points after falling behind 14-0 …

“That was big. There were a couple of long plays we had worked on during the week. We got the opportunity to run them in the game and they worked well. Those 21 points in the second quarter were a big uplift for the team.”

On what went wrong in the second half …

“They outplayed us. You can’t say any more than that. They just beat us. They were more physical up front and we didn’t execute, and it showed out on the field.”

Wide receiver Udom Umoh

On his 48-yard TD catch over UConn DB Mike Lang …

“That’s one of our special plays that we carry into every game. Before the play, Coach just said go make the play. When the ball was in the air, I just stared it down. The DB, he was in position, but I don’t know. I didn’t notice if he turned around or not.”

On whether it almost slipped through his hands …

“It did touch my arm, but I wasn’t letting it go.”

Quarterback Larry Smith

On whether UConn’s defense showed him different looks in the second half …

“They made some adjustments in the secondary. But at the same time, we made a few adjustments at halftime as well and weren’t able to adapt.”

On his choice to the run the ball more out of the option …

“I knew that would be in there. With Zac (Stacy) and Warren in the backfield, they’re real dangerous. (UConn) played them more, so it gave me the opportunity to run the ball more today than usual.”

Defensive tackle Colt Nichter

On UConn running back Jordan Todman’s 190-yard game and the Huskies’ offensive line …

“He’s a real good running back. We had a few missed tackles, but he’s a good player. I think it was No. 78 (offensive guard Zach Hurd), he was a good player. They’re physical. Yeah, I thought they had a pretty good offensive line. It’s not the best we’ve seen, but they played well.”